Professor Daryl Higgins - Institute of Child Protection Studies (DVCC) (Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Ethics))
Fully accredited supervisor - Can supervise as principal supervisor

Professor Daryl Higgins commenced as the Director of the Institute of Child Protection Studies in February 2017. His research focuses on public health approaches to protecting children, and child-safe organisational strategies. A registered psychologist, Prof Higgins has been researching child abuse impacts and prevention, family violence and family functioning for over 20 years.
Prior to joining ACU, Prof Higgins was the Deputy Director (Research) at the Australian Institute of Family Studies, where he had responsibility for the research program, knowledge translation and exchange functions focusing on issues affecting families in Australia.
Prof Higgins has extensive experience in managing and supervising research, and has led projects looking at child abuse and neglect, child protection, children in out-of-home care, child-safe organisations, family law and allegations of child abuse, disability and family care, welfare reform, family and interpersonal violence, jobless families, past adoption and forced family separation practices, and community development approaches to child and family welfare issues. He has considerable experience in qualitative and quantitative evaluation methodology and frameworks, and a sound knowledge of state and territory policy and service delivery contexts across Australia.
Contact
![]() | 3607 (Melbourne) |
![]() | Daryl.Higgins@acu.edu.au |
![]() | Staff Directory ProfilePersonal Website |
Research Interests
Publich health ; Statutory child protection systems ; Child-safe organisations ; Multi-type maltreatment/polyvictimisation ; Domestic violence ;
Methods Expertise
Surveys ; Qualitative ; Policy analysis ;
Research Projects
Selected Publications
2017
Risk factors for child maltreatment in an Australian population-based birth cohort, in Child Abuse & Neglect, 64
Economic predictors of child maltreatment in an Australian population-based birth cohort, in Children and Youth Services Review
2015
Positionning a public health framework at the intersection of child maltreatment and intimate partner violence, in Child Abuse & Neglect, 48, 22-28
2014
Past adoption practices: Implications for current interventions, in InPsych: The bulletin of the Australian Psychological Society, 36(4), 8-11
2013
Multi-type maltreatment and polyvictimisation: A comparison of two research frameworks, in Family Matters, 93, 84-98.
2010
a??Sex, Lies and Videotapesa??: Gathering and assessing evidence of child abuse in family law cases, in Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 17(3), 398-411.
2009
Is caring a health hazard? The mental health and vitality of carers of a person with a disability in Australia, in Medical Journal of Australia, 190(7) (Supplement: Depression and anxiety with physical illness), S61-S65.
2008
Enhancing service systems for protecting children: Promoting child wellbeing and child protection reform in Australia, in Family Matters, 80, 43-50
2007
Cooperation and coordination: An evaluation of the Family Court of Australiaa??s Magellan case-management model, in A report published by Family Court of Australia
Families Caring: Diverse care-work of families in Australia, in Family Matters, 76, 4-7.
2005
An evaluation of the social impact of an autistic child on family functioning, in Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 9, 125-137.
2002
Is domestic violence learned? The contribution of five forms of child maltreatment to mena??s violence and adjustment, in Journal of Family Violence, 17, 223-245.